Kate Beckett, Lawyer
by xfilesgurl
Summary: Kate's mom never died. She never met Castle. She never became a cop. She became a lawyer. What happens when she has to put Richard Castle in jail? Read to find out. :
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is an AU story about Castle and Beckett and how they would meet if she wasn't a cop. Hope you enjoy! comments are always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle but I love it!**

Kate Beckett was the best lawyer in New York. She won every case she had. She had put so many criminals in the big house that she had totally lost count. She took after her mother who had retired after her many years of service. Kate lived alone in an apartment on the edge of New York city. She had had many relationships but had trouble staying in them because of her job. She was always busy. Always working to put away the murderers of New York. Truth was she was lonely.

Kate had just broken up with her heart surgeon boyfriend Josh who seemed totally perfect because he also worked weird hours but that seemed to only make matters worse for the relationship. What had seemed great at first turned into a relationship where they never saw or spoke to each other which really wasn't a relationship at all. Josh ended the relationship saying that he needed something more and that she was not putting enough effort into their relationship. Kate was furious at his accusation but a part of her thought that he was probably right. She never left time for love. Every time she got into a relationship it was like something held her back from giving the man her whole heart.

It was early Monday morning and Kate was heading down to the courthouse to prosecute a man who had supposedly suffocated his mother. She walked in and prepared herself to make her opening statement against one Richard Castle.

The man called Castle was brought in about an hour after Kate had taken her seat in the large courtroom. She looked at the man she was about to prosecute. He didn't look like most of the men she sent off to jail. He looked kind and scared. Odd she thought to herself. He was actually quite attractive, even clad in the orange jumpsuit provided for all criminals you could tell that he had good physique. His thick brown hair and gorgeous eyes added to his attractiveness. Kate suddenly realized that she was coming horribly close to fantasizing about a murderer. She shuddered and went over the case file again.

Richard Castle was a bestselling author of the series Derek Storm. He lived in New York with his mother, now deceased, and daughter. Castle had had a weak alibi for the murder of his mother. He had told the police that he had been in bed sleeping but of course it would have been very easy for him to get up go over to his mother's room place a pillow over her head a suffocate her without his daughter, the only other person in the apartment, noticing. Police who investigated found Castle's fingerprints on the pillow which was still laid across his mother's face when she was found. His daughter Alexis had been the one to call the police when she found the body. Although Alexis believed that it was impossible for her father to commit the murder the evidence against him had been too great to overlook. He had been the police's lead suspect from the beginning. There had been hardly any investigation on anyone else. Kate found it surprising that someone who wrote about murder had been so pathetic at committing one himself.

She looked over at him again and saw that he was looking at her. She tried to see the killer look in his eyes, the glossy stare of a murderer but still she saw nothing of the sort. His eyes looked wet with tears. He broke his gaze with the lawyer and she saw him turn to look behind him. Kate saw a young red-headed teenager give him a thumbs up. She also had very wet eyes but seem determined not to let the tears fall from her eyes. Kate realized once again that she was having odd feelings towards this man.

The court recessed after both sides made they're opening statements. Kate got up to go to the washroom when the defence lawyer walked over to her. "He wants to talk to you" James Walkin said. Kate stared at him confused "Who?" James looked over at Castle who was still sitting in the prisoner's box watching them talk. "Castle?" she asked. James nodded and began walking back over to the other side of the brightly lit courtroom. Kate decided to follow him and went over to talk to the convict.

"Ms Beckett" Castle said as she reached his seat. "Mr Castle" she nodded. "I've heard a lot about you. I've always thought that if I were ever to need a lawyer I would use you but you didn't take the job." Kate smirked "I don't defend murderers, Castle, I put them away" Castle nodded and chuckled to himself as he looked down at his cuffed ankles "In another life you would have made a great character for my next book" "That's very kind of you Mr Castle but if that's all I really have to…" "I'm being framed" he cut her off. He had raised his head so that their eyes met and she saw a fire in them. "Mr Castle I.." "Please Ms Beckett, I have a teenage daughter who will have to live with her crazy mother if I go to jail. Please, I know you have friends that are cops if there's anything you can do to get them to look at other suspects. They thought it was me the whole time, the ones that were on my case, they didn't look at anyone else. You saw the file. Please Ms. I know you pride yourself in putting away New York's worst but it's not me. Just look into it. If you don't find anything you can lock me up and throw away the key." Castle looked desperate. She was his final chance to clear his name.

"Mr. Castle it was nice to meet you. I really enjoyed your novels." Kate said as she turned and made her way to the courthouse washroom. As she was washing her hands in the shiny white sink she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. Something Castle had said had hit her. Something about his case didn't seem right. What was the harm in looking into it? She picked up her cell phone and dialed a the number of a man she had known for a long time.

"Hey Espo" she said when he picked up, "I need a favour."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, this is chapter two! Sorry if some of the legal issues are off, I'm no lawyer! Anyway, hope you enjoy and thanks for reading! Comments are always welcome!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, but I love it!**

Esposito spent the greater part of that evening going over Richard Castle's case. Esposito was a homicide detective at the 12th precinct. He and Kate had met when she put away one of the criminals Esposito had caught. Her aggression and attitude had pushed him to ask her out. They had dated for a month but after a few odd dinners and a very awkward kiss they decided that they were better as friends, they had stayed in touch ever since.

It was around 2 am when Esposito found a possible suspect in the Castle case who had been overlooked. He called his Kevin Ryan in to help him out. Together they did research on a man called Winston Bracknove. He had been seeing Martha at the time of her death. Police hadn't bothered questioning him much because he had an alibi of being with his children at the time of Martha's death. "You think this is what Beckett was looking for Javi?" Ryan asked his partner as they dove into Winston's file. "I have no clue what she was looking for." He answered seriously "It must be important for her to call in a favour"

"Alright, alright. Thanks, I'll fill you in later" Kate hung up the phone. It was 9am and she was ready to bring her file to the judge. She had been working on it this 4am when Ryan and Esposito had called her with the leads that they had found. Both of the cops had questioned her relentlessly about why she was working so hard to keep this guy out of jail but the truth was she wasn't sure herself.

She was sure that this was going to be odd for everyone involved because she was supposed to be prosecuting the guy not trying to set him free but something about him had caught her. Something about the way he looked at her. Something about the sadness in his eyes. She had seen a truth about him that she had never seen in anyone else. She laughed to herself, maybe it was because she was such a fan of his novels. She had them all in her top dresser drawer. But being serious she knew that it wasn't just his books. She had to make sure that if he was going to go to jail that he actually committed the crime.

Kate arrived at the courthouse around 10am and went straight to the judges office which was located on the second floor at the end of the left hand hallway. Judge Shaw office was well furnished and stocked with many books on law and a few on history. Kate found that it smelt of an old library. "Ms Beckett" he said as she walked through the door "What can I do for you?" "You can take a look at this" she handed him the file she had made up earlier that morning. The judge perused the file. As he got farther and farther into it he began to look confused. "Aren't you supposed to be prosecuting this guy?" the judge raised his bushy white eyebrows and ran his right hand through what little white hair he had left on his head. Judge Shaw was an old judge and many people thought he was old fashioned. Kate, however, liked the man, and found it refreshing that he did everything by the book, however under these circumstances she thought it may have been better to have a different judge.

Judge Shaw finally looked up from the file and Kate drew in a deep breath. "Alright Kate. I'll reopen the case." Kate breathed out and tried to hold her excitement. "Thank you sir." She began to walk out of the room "Kate" he stopped her "If you're wrong. If this man is just a cold hearted murderer. If he gets put out on the street and runs while this case is reopen, it'll be on your head. It'll be yours to carry, you understand what I'm saying?" Kate didn't hesitate "Yes, sir. I accept full responsibility for whatever happens." Judge Shaw grumbled under his breath and Kate left the office smiling.

Her next stop was to visit the man who she had worked so hard to get a second chance for. A man she really didn't know at all but for some reason she had no doubts about her decision at all. Her gut told her that she was doing the right thing.

"Ms Beckett!" Castle looked surprised when he saw Kate standing outside his cell looking down at him sitting on the uncomfortable looking bottom bunk. "Please Mr Castle call me Kate." "I heard that court had been cancelled for today. They're even giving me bail. It's quite high, but I've got money. I can't believe it was you Ms.. Kate. Yesterday when I saw you I thought all hope was lost and , and now this! You've turned the whole thing around! I don't know how to thank you" Kate smiled "You can thank me by firing your old lawyer and making me your new one, you can thank me by not be the killer everything thinks you are." She paused "One more thing, pay your bail so the next time we meet I don't have to come to this prison cell." Kate began to walk out escorted by the young bald security guard who had been standing next to Castle's cell during their conversation.

"Wait!" Castle called to her "What did you find out? How did this happen?" Kate turned smiled and said "All conversation for our next meeting Mr Castle"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Here's chapter 3! Hope you enjoy! More to come soon hopefully! Comments are always welcome! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle but I love it! **

"Welcome Ms. Beckett" Castle graciously opened the door to the woman he owed a great deal to. Kate walked into the spacious flat. Kate stepped into the room and took a seat on a nearby couch. She began to pull out files from the black briefcase that she had brought. Castle went and took a seat on the chair that was next to the couch.

"So Mr. Castle, we found another suspect, as I'm sure you gathered since you are no longer on trial." Kate said.

"That's great!" Castle exclaimed, he paused, "Who is it?"

"Winston Bracknove. Do you know him?"

"Not well, we met once or twice when he came to pick up Mom from the house." Castle thought for a moment, "I didn't like him"

Kate frowned, "You didn't like him and you met him twice briefly? You're quick to judge."

"Hey, he potentially killed my mother I get to judge!" Castle said defensively.

Kate smirked, "Well Ryan and Esposito are working on the case now and if they find anything out about him they'll let us know. So far we know that his alibi is flimsy at best and he was strapped for cash."

"Good that's good." Castle looked down lost in thought.

"Mr. Castle, as your lawyer I need to make sure that nothing is going to come out in court. You have to be completely honest with me. Is there anything I should know that could be potentially incriminating?"

Castle looked up into her eyes and said, "No, my mother was a pain in the ass. She fell for the wrong guys, she partied a lot when I was young, and Lord knows she wasn't the greatest role model. But I loved her. I would have done anything for her. I let her move in with me when she lost her money; I let her host dramatic crap in my living room. She was my mom, I could never hurt her."

Kate saw certain sadness in Castle's eyes. She felt sorry for him. She didn't know the pain of losing a parent. Both of hers were safe and sound. She silently hoped that she would not have to deal with that kind of pain for a very long time.

"Dad?" Kate saw the young red-headed girl whom she knew to be Castle's daughter poke her head into the room where they were sitting.

"What's up sweetie?" Castle asked looking up at his teenage daughter.

She looked at Kate hesitantly but continued into the room and walked quickly over to her father. She hugged him tightly, "Just making sure your still here."

After the initial surprise of the attack hug Castle reciprocated. Kate watched feeling warm inside because she knew that she had done the right thing in helping Richard Castle. Kate suddenly realized that she was now intruding on a private family moment and figured that she should probably take her leave. She carefully gathered her papers and put them back in her briefcase. When she got up Castle stood up too.

"Leaving so soon Beckett?" Kate immediately noticed that he had dropped the "Ms" from her name and she wondered if she should do the same.

"Figured we've discussed enough for today." She said as she began to head out the door. He followed her to the door.

"Beckett" he started as he stood in front of the door preventing her from leaving before he said what he needed to say. "I never got a chance to thank you for… for doing what you did. For giving me a chance. You don't even know me, but she saved me from moving into a very dreary new house."

Kate smiled, "Don't thank me yet Castle. Wait till we catch the guy who killed your mom."

"We can celebrate that when it happens, as I'm sure it will. But for now I want to celebrate you." He paused, "I mean I want to celebrate your um… being awesome."

She laughed, "You really don't owe me anything. I'm just doing my job."

"Most lawyers just sentence, no questions asked. You switched sides. You went above and beyond." Castle said sincerely.

"Will, I couldn't let an innocent man go to jail."

"Right so, dinner?" Castle tried.

"Dinner? Mr. Castle I don't think that would be appropriate" Kate began to back away realizing that she was getting too close to her client. She couldn't think about his eyes or his kindness. She had to remember that he was her client and clients and lawyers could not be friends.

"It will be appropriate" Castle didn't give up, "We don't have to go out. Come here. I'll cook for you. Alexis will be here. It won't be anything more than a thank you dinner."

Kate took a moment to think. She looked into his eyes and knew that was a grave mistake. She would have to say yes. It was only dinner.

"Ok Castle. What time do you want me to come?"

Castle smiled triumphantly, "7:05 not a minute later."

Kate laughed, "You couldn't just say seven?"

"Where's the fun in that?" he chuckled as he opened the door and allowed her to leave. "See you tonight!" she turned and smiled as she walked out.

When Castle closed the door he called to his daughter, "Alexis! We've got to get cooking!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! Beckett comes for dinner. Hope you enjoy! Comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle I just love it! :)  
**

Castle and Alexis had managed to throw together a nice lasagna and a large loaf of garlic bread. The dining table was decorated with two long candles and what Alexis called the guest dishes. It was six fifty and Alexis could see her father was getting anxious.

"Dad?"

He stopped pacing around the table and looked at his daughter, "Whats up kid?"

"I just remembered that I promised to go to Sam's house to help her with her math homework." Alexis explained after realizing that her father was developing feelings for the woman who had rescued him from jail.

"Alexis! The only reason Beckett agreed to come is because I said you'd be there! Now she's going to think it's a date!" Castle began pacing again.

"Dad!" Alexis walked over to him and had him sit down, "Calm down. If you really want me to stay I'll stay."

Castle looked up at his daughter who was standing over him with concern, "No its ok" he smiled, "You go and try to have fun. Though I think fun and math normally don't mix but your very strange so you never know." Castle laughed.

"Okay Dad" she kissed his head, "Good luck tonight" she winked and ran upstairs to grab her books. Castle laughed and shook his head. Nothing got by Alexis. She could clearly see he wanted this to be more than just a thank you dinner.

Castle waved at his daughter as she ran out the door and went to the mirror for another quick hair check. He checked his watch and felt his heart start to race. It was 7 o'clock, she'd be here soon. He didn't know what it was but Kate made him nervous. But nervous in a good way. Maybe it was because she believed in him. Maybe it was because she had stopped him from going to jail. Or maybe it was something more. Either way being with her made him the happiest he'd been since his mother's death.

_Dring_

Castle quickly lit the two candles that were sitting on the table and raced to the door.

"Good evening." He said bowing as he opened the door.

"Hello, Mr. Castle." Beckett shed her coat and walked over to the dining area. She frowned when she saw that only two places were set.

"I thought your daughter was going to be home?" She said with her arms folded against her chest looking at Castle suspiciously.

"She was. I swear" Castle argued giving a nervous smile, "But she had to go to a friend's house to share her math knowledge. Alexis is quite the brain."

Beckett accepted his story. As she took her seat at the table she said jokingly, "She must have gotten those from her mother."

Castle faked a offended look then chuckled, "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew her mother."

Beckett smiled not sure how to respond.

Castle went into the kitchen and grabbed the two dinner plates. He then walked back in and placed Beckett's in front of her. "Dinner is served" he announced grinning widely.

"Thank you kind sir." She smiled.

When Castle took his seat she took a bite. "Why Castle I didn't expect you to be such a good cook."

"I had to be with the way my mother cooked." He smiled sadly.

"It must have been hard losing her so suddenly."

"I was, but it was harder because I didn't get the chance to be sad. I was too busy getting thrown in jail."

Kate looked him in the eyes and said sincerely, "I'm sorry for everything you've been put through."

Castle smiled at her, "It's not your fault. If it wasn't for you, well I don't know where'd I'd be."

Kate blushed and continued eating.

"So let me guess. Your dad's a lawyer?" Castle asked between large forkfuls of lasagna.

"Close, my mother."

"Oh I see. So she was your role model growing up?"

"Ya. My mom and I get along really well. She always took on the cases that no one wanted. It always inspired me to be a better person. Its part of the reason why I helped you."

"Well then tell your mom thank you for me"

Beckett smiled, "What about you? I already know that your mother was an actress but what about your father?"

"My father is one of the best spies that works for M16. He knew James Bond personally. I always asked him to take me to work but it was too dangerous even for a brave kid like myself."

Beckett stared at him confused.

Castle laughed, "I don't know who my father is. So when I was a boy I used to make up different scenarios about what he'd be like, what kind of relationship we'd have. My favourite was always him being a spy for some reason. Probably because then I'd have some connection to Bond."

Beckett smiled and took a sip of water, "So you've always had a wild imagination huh?"

"What can I say, I've always been a bit of a genius."

Beckett laughed, "I don't know if I'd call your books genius Castle."

"Oh so you've read them?"

"I might have glanced at one or two." Beckett blushed again and Castle couldn't help but stare at her rare beauty.

"Did I mention you look lovely tonight." He said quietly.

Kate looked surprised at his sudden comment. She stared down at her now empty plate trying to hide the grin that had appeared on her face. "Thank you Mr. Castle." Kate tried to remain professional. Tried not to notice that her a gorgeous man had just called her beautiful. Tried to remember that he was her client. But it was getting hard.

Castle slowly got up from his seat and took his plate and Kate's to the kitchen.

"Did you want some ice cream?" He called to her.

"Um no thank you, I really should be going. I have an early client meeting tomorrow." She got up from her chair and walked over to the front door to grab her long black coat.

"Are you sure?" he looked around and noticed that she had left her seat. He walked over to the door and saw her preparing to leave.

"We should do this again." He said reaching out to help her put her coat on.

Kate turned to face him after she had finished with the coat. She found that she was quite a bit closer than she should be. She wanted to move back but couldn't. Her eyes were fixated on his trying to remember what she was going to say.

"Thank…thank you. I had a nice time." Kate stumbled on her words. She could feel his breathe as his face got closer.

"Like I said." His voice was quiet, "We should do this again some time."

Kate's heart was pounding at how close their lips were. Her eyes darted down to them again. It was time to leave she told herself. Move feet.

Kate slowly bent down to pick up her purse and opened the door, breaking the moment they had been holding. She felt her heart begin to steady again.

"I'll see you tomorrow, we should discuss…" She stopped as she felt his lips against her cheek.

"Tomorrow then"

Kate blushed one last time and walked quickly out of the flat.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5! Sorry it took so long but sadly exams have entered my life :( Anyway hope you enjoy! And thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome and appreciated :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle :(  
**

As Beckett lay in her bed the next morning waiting for her alarm to buzz to tell her that it was 7 am she thought about the dinner she had the night before. She had come to the conclusion that her client no longer saw her as just his lawyer or even as just his friend. What was worse was neither did she.

_Buzz_

She reached across her bed to the night table and turned the alarm off. Slowly she got up from her twin sized bed still trying to figure out if she should stop being Richard Castle's lawyer. She had already gotten him off. Gotten them to re-open the case, find another suspect. Maybe it was time she let him go. It was extremely unprofessional for a lawyer to get involved with a client, even if that client was Richard Castle.

As she was getting dressed her phone rang. She picked it up on the third ring.

"Beckett" she answered.

"Hey, so I think we've got this guy." Kate recognized the voice to be Esposito's and smiled.

"Winston? You got him?" she asked.

"Ya we got a warrant to look into his apartment, found a few of his bank statements, and a fingerprinting kit. We took him in for questioning. Ryan is in with him right now."

"Ryan?"

"My new partner. Seems like a good guy. A bit too by the book and seems a little green but he's alright."

"Having a guy who's by the book could be best for you Espo." Kate chuckled.

"So you can tell that Castle guy to rest easy now. I'm sure Bracknove will be going away for a long time."

Kate nodded pleased that she would no longer have to represent Castle, so she would not have to worry about her arising feelings for the man, "Good. I'll let him know. Thanks Espo."

"Anytime Kate, you know that."

She smiled, "Yes, I'll talk to you later."

But before she hung up the phone Esposito said, "Kate? Why him? How did you know?"

Kate thought for a moment and realized that even she herself was unsure as to what had made her help him that day. Was it the sadness in his eyes? The tear soaked face of his young daughter? Or was it something different? Something deeper. She couldn't deny she had felt an immediate connection to the man. She had assumed it was because he was famous. People always felt close to famous people. But as the time had gone on and after last night well, it wasn't just that he was famous.

"Kate? You still there?"

"I just knew Espo." She answered simply realizing that that was the only way she could explain the bizarre situation. And it was true. She had simply known that he was not capable of this crime.

"Alright Kate, looks like you instincts are better than the cops that worked the case." He laughed, "Maybe you should have joined the force instead eh? I could see you here bossing everyone around. You missed your calling my friend."

Kate shook her head and laughed, "Espo I could never be a cop."

"Maybe in another life then."

"Maybe."

With that the two ended the conversation and Kate continued to get ready for work.

#################################################################################################

Castle turned from the fridge to find his daughter sitting at the bar table before him.

"So how did last night go?" she asked resting her head on one hand and raising her eyebrow questioningly.

Castle dropped a couple grapes into his mouth and between bites answered, "Good, very professional, she's a very nice woman. A good lawyer."

"Is that all she is?" Alexis held out her other hand asking her father to give her some grapes.

He handed her a few and responded, "Of course sweetheart." His voice drifted at the end of his sentence and he refused to meet his daughter's eyes.

"You're a horrible liar." She laughed and got up from her seat, "I'll see you after school?"

"Alright sweetie." He walked over and kissed the top of her head, "Have a good day."

"You too, try to get some writing done." She called as she walked out the door.

Castle chuckled knowing that him writing today was very unlikely. He just was not in the mood. He was however, in the mood to see a certain lawyer. He checked his watch, it was still very early. He wondered when she would stop by.

He did not have to wonder long. An hour later the doorbell rang.

"Beckett!" He greeted as he answered the door and allowed her to walk into the flat. "I wasn't expecting to see you so early."

"I wanted to stop by here before I went to the office." She explained, "I have some news for you."

The smile fell off Castle's face, "I'm going to jail again."

"No, no Castle, Esposito's got evidence on Bracknove. He thinks he's gonna have enough to convict him soon. They took him in for interrogation this morning." She smiled waiting for his response.

Castle breathed a sigh of relief, "I'll be happy when this whole mess is over." He went and sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands.

Not quite the response she had been expecting, "What is it?" she asked walking over to join him.

"I was here, Kate. I knew him. I met him. And I was here." He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, "I didn't stop it. I could have. It didn't really hit me until now, you know? I was so focused on not getting incarcerated but I let my mother die. It's my fault."

Kate sat there completely astonished wondering how this poor man could think this horrible deed could possibly be his fault. She reached out and rubbed his back slowly. "This is not your fault Rick. There is nothing you could have done."

"But I was here. I didn't hear anything. How could I not know." His head fell back into his hands and he began to cry.

Before Kate realized what she was doing she pulled the man close to him and wrapped him in her arms allowing his head to fall unto her shoulder as he wept. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face further into her shoulder. She simply kept stroking his back completely ignoring the client boundaries that she was breaking.

They remained this way for quite some time. Finally Castle lifted his head from her now tear stained shoulder but he did not let go of her. Instead he stared at her and very quietly said, "Thank you"

"Always." She whispered and he closed the gap between them and their lips met.


End file.
